Sorry
by Boriqua-chan
Summary: The war is over, Sasuke is back in Konoha, and he is looking over his mistakes and agonizes over them. Thus, compelling him to show up at Sakura's in the middle of the night with an apology. Requested by medicninsakura on Tumblr


**Requested by a friend of mine on tumblr. This story can be found there at boriqua-chan . tumblr post / 50681295898 / sorry**

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"Sasuke?"

Her voice was sweet, covered in a blanket of grogginess. She'd just woken up. He should have let her sleep; it was obvious she was worse for wear. Of course, she would be — now that the war was over, she was swamped. There just weren't enough medics to go around. He knew he should have just let her sleep. It would have been good of him to just let her sleep — to never even bother her again. Never bother anyone again.

Sakura rubbed her eyes with one hand, using the other to keep her robe closed. Her eyes were so red, and there were bags under them. It was his fault. If it hadn't been for him, this damned war wouldn't have even had to happen.

Sasuke was not one to be self-conscious or unsure. He was a man of action. Even if, as recently proven, those actions were not the best ones. He was _not_ someone to second-guess himself. But, looking at those hazy green eyes and that tired pout, he couldn't help but shift his weight — it was imperceptible, unnoticeable, and in her sleepy state, Sakura would not have picked up on it. Still he shifted his weight and looked over Sakura's head, into the darkness of her house. She hadn't bothered to even turn on the lights.

He couldn't look at her face. He couldn't look at it or he'd remember all the times he'd tried to kill her, all those times he'd broken her — and worse, he'd remember how she didn't give up on him, how she so _stubbornly refused_ to give up hope. That hurt most — her faith in him. Faith he didn't deserve, because look at all the damage he'd caused. All the people he'd killed.

He didn't deserve to be trusted, and yet here he was, walking the streets of Konoha free as a bird. Free to walk another day, free to visit people who he _shouldn't_.He shouldn't be visiting Sakura when she had work to do and he had broken her so many times. Yet here he was.

Sakura yawned. "Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?"

There she went with that insufferable suffix. In the brief time he'd been with her and Naruto, she never used it. He'd missed its presence, but he never questioned it. He didn't deserve the honorific, not any more. Did he ever, really?

She was so tired she was using it in his presence. Guilt nudged itself into his chest, though it had already been there. All those people he'd killed, all those things that he'd done, all that blood shed — and now the guilt of not letting Sakura sleep.

If Sasuke could kick himself, he would. He wasn't one to feel guilt, or remorse. But here he was.

All he could bring himself to do was stare at her — then she yawned again, forcing her eyes to keep open, and Sasuke shifted forward. It was easy to pick her up — obviously she hadn't slept well and she was too tired to fight him. All she did was squeak and rest her head on his shoulder, her mouth opening up into another yawn.

He should have let her sleep.

Sasuke sighed a bit. She seemed too light — he didn't like it. She was stressing, and it was making her eat less. It was his fault. "Sakura," he murmured, easily making his way to her room. It was a guess at the doors, but he had good luck — in _this _anyway. She fell onto the bed softly, eyes fluttering tiredly.

"Sakura," he whispered again, pushing a strand of pink hair from her face. She looked so tired he wasn't sure she was listening. "I'm sorry." For everything. For the things he'd done to her, to her friends, to _their_ friends. For the things she didn't even know he'd done. For the things that kept him up at night and broke him. "I'm so sorry."

He didn't think she heard him. It didn't matter. He'd said it; he'd needed to say it.

Sakura curled around, eyes fluttering open just a bit. "I know," she muttered, her voice sweet and dark with sleep. She didn't say she forgave him. She didn't say she loved him. She didn't say anything other than those two little, almost inaudible words.

It was all he needed to hear.


End file.
